Tougher laws on anvil to deal with rape cases: Shinde

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday said the Government was working towards bringing more tougher laws and fast-track courts to try cases like the "shameful" December 16 gang-rape to instill confidence among women in the country.

Addressing Delhi Police personnel after taking salute at the 66th Raising Day Parade here, Shinde asked the force to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future and be more sensitive towards people`s needs.

"In a society there is no place for such shameful incidents. We should make sure that such incidents do not happen again....The government is working towards setting up fast-track courts and enacting tougher laws. The government is working to make the laws tougher," he said.

Shinde, who began his career as a police constable, also lauded the Delhi Police for acting "prompt" and nabbing the accused within 24 hours and filing a chargesheet in the case in 18 days.

Noting that more steps are needed for ensuring safety of women, he said the Delhi Police has taken several steps after the gang-rape of the 23-year-old paramedical student and hoped that they will instill confidence in women.

"Although the police job is to maintain law and order, public comes to police for all the problems, so we need to make the working of police more transparent and sensitive...Police should be friends of the people," he said.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar termed the gang-rape as a "horrific" incident and spoke about the anger of people on the streets of Delhi after the incident.

"Delhiites came on to the streets to express their anger on the incident. Their anger which was probably against the laws they expressed it on police. During the protests, one of our police constable lost his life and many police officers were injured in the protests," he said, adding that the case was solved within 24 hours.